Heartbeat
by DancingwithDestiny
Summary: Of all the things Roxas loved about Axel, what he loved most was his heart. One-shot/drabble AU, AkuRoku, Happy Valentine's Day 2011


Sometimes I come up with ideas for fanfiction when I'm lying in bed, before I go to sleep. Often, actually. This would be one of them.

This is more of a drabble than anything, really. ._.' And a bit of a brainsplat as well, ehheh...  
More fluff, this time with cuddling. I'm kind of a sucker for it in fanfics. ^^'  
I am also a sucker for fanfics where Axel has a heart, whether they be AU or not. (This one is)  
So if you like either of those, you'll probably enjoy this. ^^

* * *

Roxas awoke with a start, and heard the sound of pouring rain. He was puzzled for a moment as to why he woke, until–

_Crrrack-_BOOM.

Ah. Of course. A thunderstorm.

Roxas laid back with an annoyed sigh. He glanced over at the clock. It was just three AM.

The room was still dark, with the exception of the digital clock that dimly illuminated the space as it sat on a table next to the bed, and the momentary flashes of lightning. His eyes moved slowly down, to the form of his lover – no, his love – next to him. Asleep. Soundly asleep. He could tell, from how slow and even his breath was.

Roxas smiled gently and shook his head with a silent laugh. It was always like this.

Axel was the heaviest sleeper Roxas had ever met. He _loved _to sleep, and he was damn good at it, too. He could sleep through nearly every loud noise, and not have a clue about it when he awoke. Roxas had once joked that an elephant could run through the room and he wouldn't wake up. Axel responded by saying that since elephants have soft, padded feet, one running through the house wouldn't make much noise anyway. So Roxas changed it to a herd of stampeding cattle. And he always slept through thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, Roxas himself, unfortunately, was probably one of the lightest sleepers around. _Any_ loud noise would wake him, and in a panic he'd look over to his partner's side of the bed, only to find him still and blissfully asleep. Eventually he'd realize it was nothing to worry about, and with a sigh and a contented snuggle against him, he'd fall back asleep again.

Whenever Axel groggily complained after being awoken by a fearful Roxas after such an event, Roxas would always snarkily reply with the fact that he'd probably be the one to alert him to a burglar or a late-night prowler.

No matter how many times it happened, it still amused him to see the sleeping, unmoving form next to him, peaceful as ever.

Listening to the heavy rain outside, and the rumbling thunder, Roxas knew he probably wasn't going to sleep again until the storm passed. Looking back over at his partner, he silently slid next to him, for somehow they had ended up a little further apart than he would prefer.

Axel was lying on his back, his illuminated face still peaceful, his mouth slightly open. Roxas' eyes traced his outline; his long hair, his forehead, his nose, his lips, his chin, his neck, his – shirtless – chest. He had somehow pulled the comforter off of part of his body, leaving the top half exposed; he had probably felt too hot. That was common for him, too; Roxas was amazed sometimes at how he could move around in his sleep and still not wake up.

Roxas slid downward in the bed a little, until his head was next to Axel's chest. Gently, so gently, he leaned up, over, and laid his head down upon his chest, just between his ribcage.

The bones of his ribcage poked at his face through the skin, but he didn't mind – he had gotten used to Axel's thin form long ago. Instead he felt his warmth, breathed in his scent, and sighed contentedly.

A moment later he realized that in his right ear, he could hear Axel's heart beating. Roxas turned his head slightly toward the sound, so he could hear it better.

_Lub-dub. Lub-dub. Lub-dub._

Slow, steady, strong. Roxas sighed softly again. It was so soothing, in such a primal way. And yet, not so primal at the same time.

Roxas thought of all the times he had connected with this heart; when they first embraced and he could feel it thumping through his thin chest. When it fluttered along with his own after their first kiss. When he'd laid his head against him during his darkest day, and it beat softly and strongly, matching Axel's loving embrace. When they had intertwined into one another, close as they could, moving as one, and Roxas had managed to feel Axel's chest for just a moment, and felt his heart pounding as strongly as it could, enthusiastic and full of love, just like his own. When afterward, when Roxas left his hand on Axel's chest, feeling it throbbing against his fingers, Axel leaned over and softly whispered in his ear: _"It's saying it loves you."_

And of course, the feeling in his own heart back when they fell in love.

Roxas had always felt a distinct sense of thankfulness for the presence of Axel's heart. He couldn't quite put a finger on _why_, except that he knew that Axel just wouldn't be the same without it. Not in the typical medical sense, that is. He was so loving, so warm, that if it were any different, it'd be like a huge chunk of _him _would be gone. He loved to feel and hear it beat, because medical textbooks be damned, the heart wasn't just a pump, it was where true love lived. And he'd always loved to feel it speed up just a little whenever he told Axel _"I love you."_

The thought came to his mind at that moment, considering the medical view of the heart, that every beat of Axel's heart kept Axel with him, kept him alive. There was no guarantee that it couldn't just stop, at any time, and yet it kept beating; all day, every day.

Roxas turned his head gently and kissed the skin above Axel's heart, silently thanking it for keeping his love beside him, still breathing, still living. And he knew at that moment that he would never stop being thankful for that.

He turned his head back, and smiled softly, listening to the slow beat again. He lifted his left arm and draped it across Axel's waist, his pinkie and ring fingers just touching his hip bone. He relaxed, and soon he finds that the storm has faded, and he begins to drift off to sleep once again.

* * *

Axel opened his eyes. It was still dark out. He wasn't quite sure why he awoke, until he felt a drip on his forehead. Water. One of the few things that _could_ wake him up.

Making a mental note to check that leak in the morning, he turned his head to the side. He then realized that there was an odd weight on his chest. He opened his eyes again and peered down.

He smiled gently. A tousled mess of blond hair stuck up from the middle of his chest, and he could feel a thin arm wrapped across his waist. His heart lifted, as again he realized how lucky he was.

He wrapped his arms around the sleeping form, careful not to wake him, and fell back asleep.

* * *

**Author's note:**  
Fun fact: Axel's sleeping habits are pretty much based on mine, while Roxas' are based on the only light sleeper I know, my mom. I have personally slept through a thunderstorm on several occasions. xD;  
I have no idea if water dripping on my face would wake me up or not, but given Axel's canon element of fire, it's only natural to assume that his AU form would retain a certain dislike of water. ;p  
The brainsplat portion of this would be Roxas' mental rambling about the heart. I've had a certain fascination with and fixation on the heart since I was a little kid, which helps explain why Kingdom Hearts is such a favorite fandom of mine. :P  
...I need to stop making the characters I write parrot my opinions... ._.'  
Ah well, the mind _does_ wander and overthink about random things when it's tired. Well, at least mine does. :P

Happy Valentine's Day! ^_^


End file.
